Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth by Wole Soyinka (Bloomsbury)
The Nobel laureate’s first novel in almost 50 years promises “murder, mayhem and no shortage of drama” in contemporary Nigeria.
The Thursday Murder Club 2 by Richard Osman (Viking)
Last year the
Pointless co-host’s cosy crime debut set in a retirement home broke sales records; here comes the sequel.
Waters of Salvation by Richard Coles (W&N)
A new crime series from everyone’s favourite vicar begins as a proposal to refurbish a village church ends in murder; Canon Daniel Clement must investigate.
Oh, William! by Elizabeth Strout (Viking)
2021 is set to be a very exciting year for Japanese literature, with a new short story collection from Haruki Murakami and a new novel from Japanese-born British writer Kazuo Ishiguro. The following books represent the very best of what’s coming to English-language readers in 2021, including a new novel from “Breasts and Eggs” author Mieko Kawakami and the English translation debut of legendary speculative fiction author Izumi Suzuki.
Thanks to the talent of some of the best translators in the business, here are five (translated) Japanese novels to read in 2021.
Translated by Lucy North
An unsettling tale of manipulation, invisible people and quiet terror, “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” is a novel unlike anything that’s come before it. Written by prizewinning novelist Natsuko Imamura and translated by Lucy North, “The Woman in the Purple Skirt” tells the story of an unhealthy relationship between two women known only as the titular woman in the purple skirt and th
Our Favorite International Reads of 2020 (and What We’ll Be Reading in 2021)
Editor
This year, I m keeping my recommendations to the Southern Cone, perhaps out of the wistful recollection that as we face gray, blustery afternoons here in New York, warmer climes hold elsewhere.
Daniel Tunnard s
Escapes(Unnamed Press), set in a world in which competitive Scrabble is a globally televised craze under the thumb of the Scrafia (yes, a Scrabble mafia), is an uproarious novel staked on the final encounter between former world champs Florence Satine and Buenaventura Escobar in Argentina s Tigre Delta. Told from the alternating viewpoints of Satine and Escobar as they seek to flee the Scrafia s long arm, this clever novel reads something like the imagined result had Piglia turned his attentions to competitive board games. Tunnard s book is a satisfying read that takes Alfred Mosher Butt s tame pastime and turns it into a brisk, riveting jaunt across languages, crime scenes, and
When these animals talk, listen: Audiobooks give voice to a cat, a horse, a sheep and others Katherine A. Powers Although the pandemic and uncertainty about the future have put a damper on this year’s holiday festivities, we can still, as in years past, dress up our pets and stuffed animals and pretend they can talk. In the more indulgent universe of audiobooks, however, animals actually do talk, and not only in stories for children or edifying fables, but as fully fleshed characters with their own perception of reality. Their stories, whether comic, poignant or enlightening, offer some escape from our own worrisome world.